According to the artist, The Stranger Gets a Gift Project (SGG) wields art as a tool for social exchange and interpersonal connectivity. In each of a series of six performances, the artist manipulates and upends the environment of an individual audience member as a means of establishing a new mode or modes of communication. From October through December, Maldonado will perform her work in contexts that allow for exploration of the role of technology in contemporary life. She will also host a series of workshops and lectures to present the methodologies of artists seeking to engage with the theme of community and to use art as a tool for social intervention. INTERRUPTOR SGGS from cristina maldonado on Vimeo. Maldonado is particularly focused on the development of a new installment in the series. Titled “The Insider,” the new work uses technology to attempt to dissolve the boundary between self and other. In Brno last month, Maldonado performed “Interruptor,” another title in the series, as part of the Art Research Bridge Project, a collaboration between FFA BUT Brno and the School of Humanities of the University of Ireland. She also conducted a workshop and performances of “Interruptor” at DOX Gallery in Prague as part of DOX’s educational initiative. Whilst continuing to develop the SGG “services,” Maldonado will perform in multiple venues in Prague in the months of November and December, including Alfred ve Dvoře Theatre and KLINIKA. A multimedia artist and performer and a native of Mexico, Maldonado’s work lies at the intersection of participatory art, experimental theatre, and intermedia. She has performed and developed her work internationally and has directed numerous projects in the Czech Republic since 2003, including Experiment in Terror (DOX, 2011), Theorem of Wanting (NoD, 2009), Fact (4+4 Days in Motion, 2004), Study on Fact and Fragility (Prague Quadrennial, 2010), Honestly Old (MeetFactory, 2010), and Melodrama Mexicano (Transteatral Festival, 2010). More details about specific performances and workshops will be published on the Agosto Foundation website in the near future. by Morgan Childs For more information, visit thestrangeroffice.org.